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Romance revisited...and regained

BUZZSTATION

Edgar Cruz

10/13/2009

The shouted anger of hip hop and the screaming guitars and pounding percussions of rock seem to have drowned out romance in popular music. In has taken a new batch of singers to bring about the return of passion and tenderness in popular music. Two platinum artists have teamed up to do this: Jose Mari Chan of “Deep in My Heart” and “Can We Stop and Talk a While” and Christian Bautista of “The Way You Look at Me” and “Hands to Heaven.”

Original Pilipino music (OPM) pillar Jose Mari Chan is credited with 12 bestselling albums and more than 30 hit songs under Universal Records, all of which were projects of legendary producer Bella Tan. Asia’s Balladeer Christian Bautista has released 19 of Jose Mari’s original songs in Romance Revisited: The Love Songs of Jose Mari Chan, his first album under Universal Records. Produced by platinum producer Ito Rapadas, the concept album also features four of OPM’s biggest names — Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez, Asia’s Nightingale Lani Misalucha, Double Diamond Artist Jose Mari Chan and Philippines’ Pop Princess Sarah Geronimo — singing with Christian.

Now romance wafts the air anew. Mellow music, piano-driven orchestration and longing let the listener’s heart beat ever so gently. Christian sings Jose Mari’s well-loved music with a fresh inflection and new soul. The flawless collaboration is a mutual reinvention of everything good about OPM and brings it to a new high of listening pleasure, taking out its worst excesses.

Romance Revisited: The Love Songs of Jose Mari Chan includes “Tell Me Your Name,” “I Remember the Girl,” “Afraid for Love to Fade,” “I Have Fallen in Love” (With the Same Woman Three Times),” “Please Be Careful With My Heart” with Sarah, “My Girl My Woman My Friend” with Regine, “Beautiful Girl,” “Can’t We Start Over Again,” “Be Gentle,” “Stay My Love,” “Afterglow,” “A Love to Last a Lifetime,” “Here and Now” with Lani, “Constant Change,” “Deep in My Heart,” “Refrain,” “Can We Just Stop and Talk a While,” “So I’ll Go” and “A Heart’s Journey” with Jose Mari.

The beautifully packaged album contains the carrier single “Tell Me Your Name,” currently one of the most requested songs on FM stations. Its music video featuring the Thai model-actress Paula Taylor has just debuted on MYX music channel. You can now download the music video “Tell Me Your Name” on MYX. Text MYX (space) TELL ME YOUR NAME and send to 2366.

Romance Revisited: The Love Songs of Jose Mari Chan is going to be this year’s highest platinum seller. It comes with a sumptuous 2010 Christian Bautista Photo Calendar. A Limited Edition comes with a free Minus One CD available exclusively in all Odyssey outlets.

Catch Christian Bautista as he promotes his latest CD at SM Baguio on Nov. 20. Christian is also the MYX Celebrity VJ for October. The singer thanks Blackwater Body Spray, The Linden Suites, Mediacon Home Entertainment, Belo Essentials and Bench for sponsoring his brand new CD’s launch.

Fashion show for a cause

Star Magic, in cooperation with publicist Keren Pascual, held the Magic for a cause fashion show last Sunday, Oct. 11, at the ABS-CBN Studio 10, showcasing creations of A-list designers with premium Star Magic artists as models. All proceeds will be given to typhoon “Ondoy” victims.

Headlined by Piolo Pascual, Bea Alonzo, Sam Milby, Pokwang, Diether Ocampo, Angelica Panganiban, Zanjoe Marudo, Erich Gonzales, Gerald Anderson, Kim Chiu, Jake Cuenca and Shaina Magdayao, the charity event showcased the designs of Inno Sotto, Randy Ortiz, Joey Samson, Francis Libiran, Black Label, Patrice Ramos-Diaz, Oskar Peralta, Bang Pineda, Lulu Tan Gan, Cary Santiago, Joey Samson, Marlon Rivera, Tonichi Nocom, Renee Salud, Frederick Peralta, Puey Quinones, Jun Escario, Avel Bacudio, Jojie Lloren, and Josie Natori, among others.

Fashion designers’ leagues, namely, the Young Designers Guild, Fashion and Design Council of the Philippines and Fashion Designers Association of the Philippines were also involved in this event. Stylists Noel Manapat and Patrick Rosas with his team were also part of the show, which was directed by Ariel Lozada.

What’s happening to the ABS-CBN series?

New and ongoing ABS-CBN series appear to be having production values problems.

Buzzstation thinks Erich Gonzales does not look like a 14-year-old probinsiyana in Katorse. Lawyers Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa behave like teens in Dahil May Isang Ikaw. Florinda had a thin and ridiculous storyline expanded into a 30 minutes. Lovers In Paris seems to be having continuity troubles. May Bukas Pa is suffering from overexpanded subplots in an effort to draw out the series. Santino’s kidnap has been running for less than a month. Too bad; the series used to be praised for its fast-paced narrative.

I wonder what problems Maja Salvador’s debut series — what’s the title? — will bring. Are these shortcomings due to budget cuts, in attention to details, indolent executives or all of the above?

‘Ang Original na Tanging Ina’ passes away

Wenn Deramas buried his dear mom, Lydia Deramas, on whom he based his blockbuster movie Ang Tanging Ina, last Saturday. She was the subject of our first one-on-one interview for this broadsheet. The director recounted how his mom did all sorts of odds and ends to support her children. Her coffin prominently displays the epitaph “Ang Original na Tanging Ina.”

In keeping with his quirky background, Wenn was reportedly throwing punchlines during her wake. Every night, he was able to give interviews about his upcoming television and movie projects. In one of them, he repeated the buzz that Ang Tanging Pamilya movie with Joseph Estrada and Ai Ai de las Alas is not halfway through. He expressed doubt if its Nov. 11 opening will push through. The other night, he was crying. Wenn returns to work today.

Cybersex buster

With the increasing number of Internet shops, cyber crimes unavoidably spread, but remain unpunished due to the absence of a definitive law that would penalize such immoral and indecent acts.

Now a lucrative business, it exploits men, women and even children from the provinces or urban areas, enabling them to perform lewd shows and cyber sex acts via the Internet for a fee.

For this reason, Buhay party-list Rep. Irwin Tieng has authored House Bill 6626 or the “Anti-Cyber Sex Den Act,” which would make it “unlawful for a person or group of persons to maintain, manage, operate or control a den or any place, including but not limited to, a commercial building, apartment, condominium, a residential house, for cybersex activities or exhibition of private acts.”

“The state needs to adopt a measure to penalize and eventually curb cybersex crimes, which threaten the morals of our countrymen, especially the youth,” explains Tieng, who authored the bill with fellow lawmakers Carissa Coscolluela and Rene Velarde.

Tieng proposes a penalty of 12 years and one day to 20 years imprisonment, and a fine ranging from P100,000 to P500,000. If minors are employed, operators face the penalty of life imprisonment. Government officials found guilty of involvement in the operation of such dens also face “maximum penalties.”

Even foreigners who are found violating the proposed law shall, after service of sentence, will “be deported immediately without further proceedings,” according to Tieng’s bill.

Tieng also authored HB 4315 or the so-called Anti-Cyber-Boso Bill, which prohibits and penalizes the recording of private act/s and other violations of the privacy of an individual by means of mobile phones or video cameras that would cause public ridicule, without the consent of parties.

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